September
by BonesBird
Summary: Oneshot. Hotch survives through summer with Jack, and without Haley. -oh come on, you all know how my fics go now-


**Title: September  
****Summary: Oneshot. Hotch survives through summer with Jack, and without Haley. -oh come on, you all know how my fics go now-  
****Disclaimer: All used under British Fair Usage Laws.  
****Lyrics: September - Daughtry**

**Thanks go to my lovely Pat for reminding me of this song. It's one that I love so much. Dedicated to Sheila. As my H/H's always are. For the purposes of this fic, they had a day together in September 09. Angsty again…**

**For everyone who prayed for my nephew I thank you, he joined his cousin and his sister in the great beyond on Friday. My family thanks you for your support.**

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How the time passed away? All the trouble that we gave_**  
**_And all those days we spent out by the lake_**  
**_Has it all gone to waste? All the promises we made_**  
**_One by one they vanish just the same_**

It had been almost one long year since he had lost the love of his life to a killer he had caught once, and had caught up to before he took the last part of his life. One year since the last day the two of them had had with their son. The last day he'd watched Haley run, following Jack through the sea of green grass that had spread in front of them. That day was burned into his memory. He didn't know how much of that day Jack would be able to remember, but he swore that he'd teach his son as much about her as he could do.

_**Of all the things I still remember  
**__**Summer's never looked the same  
**__**The years go by and time just seems to fly  
**__**But the memories remain**_

He had given Haley a promise, her last words had been begging for the promise that now threatened to break him every time he sat down with Jack. The words that haunted him. The plea in her voice as she'd asked him to promise. He could remember it now, and he would always remember it. Jack was the one thing that kept him going some days. Even a year on, and almost 3 years on since they got divorced, his heart still belonged to Haley. His heart would always belong to Haley.

_**In the middle of September we'd still play out in the rain  
**__**Nothing to lose but everything to gain  
**__**Reflecting now on how things could've been  
**__**It was worth it in the end**_

No day felt complete anymore. He felt a fraction of this when he and Haley separated, but knowing he couldn't just pick up the phone and hear her voice made him feel like a part of himself had been ripped out. Jack missed his mommy too. They spent hours laid together on the sofa, looking at pictures of Haley, or talking about her, or watching all the videos that had been made during her lifetime. Jack even found his pirate hat, leading Hotch to explain how they met. Fulfilling part of his promise.

_**Now it all seems so clear, there's nothing left to fear  
**__**So we made our way by finding what was real  
**__**Now the days are so long that summer's moving on  
**__**We reach for something that's already gone**_

Jack playing out in the sunshine brought his memory of their videos, their chats from years before. Summer vacations to exotic places. Time spent together falling in love again and whenever they spent a time together in the sunshine. Every September was made of hell. All he could think about was another anniversary due to come. The years passed and he still thought about her at least once a day. Still went up to her grave once a month.

_**We knew we had to leave this town  
**__**But we never knew when and we never knew how  
**__**We would end up here the way we are  
**__**Yeah we knew we had to leave this town  
**__**But we never knew when and we never knew how**_

Everything he wanted was to spend time with her. He'd promised to wake up beside her every day for the rest of his life, and he hadn't been given that option. It had been taken from him, not once but twice. He believed in marriage. He wondered who was going to talk to Jack about girls, about the things that moms were for. He knew that the women in his life, Jess, and Garcia, would help. But simply, Hotch wished that Haley were still with him. Then he remembered, Haley would be with them as long as they remembered her.

_**Of all the things I still remember  
**__**Summer's never looked the same  
**__**The years go by and time just seems to fly  
**__**But the memories remain**_

He lived a full life. Jack spoke for his Eulogy. He spoke of how his father had never left his mother. In life or in death. He spoke of the love that he'd been shown. How his father had loved him, their friends and his mother until the end.

"And most of all dad kept his promise."

_**In the middle of September we'd still play out in the rain  
**__**Nothing to lose but everything to gain  
**__**Reflecting now on how things could've been  
**__**It was worth it in the end**_


End file.
